It doesn't matter
by Elfra
Summary: The climax of this dance will be reached soon. New friends, new enemies, the same war... and, of course, our favourite exorcists! The three days of darkness... they are coming.
1. Chapter 1 : Prelude

Yeah, it is a hat-trick! This is my first D.Gray-Man fanfic, my first English fanfic and my first fanfic ever! This calls for a celebration... Ok, I pay for a round of cookies!

The story you can see below is originally based on some crazy thoughts about Kanda's tattoo. First, I didn't want to write a fanfic, but somehow I felt like I have to do this. Well, I still don't know why I write it in English...

There will appear some characters I've made up. Some of them will have a bigger role. I'll desperately try to not make them into Mary-Sues and ...(What was the name for the boys again?), but since I mostly write at night the desire to sleep may trick me. So, if you have the suspicion that some innocent character in the story slowly turns into one of the most hated chara on earth who causes so many nightmares and will surely make the world perish, please hit me with the review-hammer (or if you want, with Rabi's hammer if he lend it to you) so that I can try to save the story.

**disclaimer:** Of course, D.Gray-Man and all of its characters don't belong to me. Well, if I could meet Hoshino-sama and ask for giving it to me as present, I would be the happiest person on earth, but... sighs it's just a little, humble dream... I also won't make a single dollar/euro with this story.

Dear me, I talk too much! Please read and enjoy my story! And if you could take some time and review it, my eternal thanks will belong to you.

* * *

**It doesn't matter**

Chapter one : Prelude  


_This night's moon is different than before. She has gotten much paler since her very first days and her eyes with which she observes mankind are now shut. These days, she often tries to hide behind dark clouds. As if she was afraid._

_Afraid of what is about to come._

_Afraid of what has begun._

_Humans cry a lot, nowadays. You barely find a peaceful place in the world. Crime, accidents, diseases, natural disasters… there are plenty reasons to despair. So, darkness has an easy way to conquer a human's heart._

_You lose a beloved one and you suffer. You cry in bitter agony; you begin to hate your once appreciated god, for he let you feel this pain. And then HE comes._

_The dark one. The creator. It is the earl of the millennium._

_With giving you the possibility of bringing your love back to life, he eases your grief for a short amount of time. You call the name of your treasured one and find happiness. Even if the one you love has changed his appearance. It doesn't matter for you, right? As long as you can be together…_

_But be aware! This happiness is not supposed to last longer than one take of breath._

_You will die._

_The one closest to you will kill you with his very own hands._

_Since you've made him into an akuma. A marionette of the earl who must obey his orders._

_Oh, why weren't you strong enough to live on without your beloved? Did you know that his soul can't escape out of his own strength? He is trapped and alone._

_The new akuma kills and evolves into a stronger, more dangerous enemy. But one day, he will meet the apostles of god. The exorcists._

_And then, nothing will separate you from your missed love anymore._

_Yet, there are so many akumas in the world and so much despair. The war between exorcists and the earl will step up. Their enmity runs deep; it is engraved in the innocence, the only weapon against the akumas._

_The climax will be reached soon. Blood will be pouring down from heaven, shadows will strangle the remained hope and the laughter of the earl will fill the endless night. And there are just a few exorcists standing up to him. _

_So, you didn't know about that all? Well, wisdom comes too late for you. Oh, please don't cry. The last moments of your life shouldn't be spent in such sadness. Just think of the day when the exorcists finally release your love. Now, wipe the tears off your face and let me tell you more. Listen carefully because death will be your only chance to see._

_The earl is putting a scenario into action in which all of mankind will come to an end._

_Bringing an end to that scenario is what the exorcists do._

_But who will win? The future lies in shadows. Will the battle come to a successful end? Or will the world drown in blood?_

_The decision will be made soon. Why? You really know nothing, don't you? Poor human._

_The three days of darkness… they are coming._

_And now, go to sleep and rest till you meet your love again._

_

* * *

_

"Help! An akuma!"

The scream cut the lazy silence of the early afternoon in a little French town and made the crowd on the marketplace froze in scepticism. Akumas were just superstition, right? Hence, the people simply regarded that bone-shaking cry as an attempt to stand in the centre of everyone's attention and went back to their daily occupations. Only two persons in black clothes started running towards the source of the yell. As sprinting around a corner, the white-haired boy in the front took off his left glove and released a strange, red hand with an embedded cross. The girl behind him jumped into the air while her boots changed their appearance. She seemed to fly.

Soon they reached a big place where a woman lied on her back and faced an ugly creature. "Allen, prepare to fight!" shouted the girl. "Roger!" All of a sudden, his red hand turned into a big claw. He dashed towards the lady and stopped between her and the creature. The girl landed behind the beast. But something was wrong. Both of them were exorcists and had seen many akumas. Somehow, this one was different. It was big, surely about three meters high and it had an unfamiliar rectangular shape. From time to time, there came smoke out of its coat and it has odd red horns, short blond hair and a large tail. Its eyes were of an ordinary blue colour.

"Eh, Linali?" said Allen with a nervous tone. "Which level is it?" Linali asked while staring at the monster's tail whose consistence appeared to be much alike paper. Allen hesitated. "Well, I can't see the soul. It doesn't seem to be an akuma." Linali's eyes widened in disbelief. "Really?" "Yes. But however… we should be careful. It looks dangerous. Maybe it is a high-levelled one! At all, the lady over there has said there was an akuma." The mentioned lady got slowly up. She had an angry, confused glare. "Of course I've said that! It is part of our performance!" "P-performance?"

Linali slowly walked towards Allen who uncertainly deactivated his anti-akuma-weapon, and eyed the beast suspiciously, but it just laughed back at her. "I'm convincing, right?" it said and reached to its head. It took the horns off, then it opened its coat and revealed the body of a young man on stilts. He had put on a weird metallic apparatus that was responsible for his shape and produced in regular intervals little clouds of smoke. "A costume?" asked both Allen and Linali in unison. The man nodded. "Yeah, we're selling tickets for the great show at the theatre tonight. You know, the amazing première of the musical 'The Beauty and the Beast'. It is a completely new interpretation." "And how is it concerned with the akumas?" Linali frowned at Allen's curiosity. It sure sounded interesting, but they couldn't afford the time and money to take a day off and watch a musical. Besides, Komui was waiting for their report. "The beast is an akuma, what else? It will be the biggest show this town had ever seen! All over the town are performers who promote the musical and sell tickets. Now, if you don't want to buy some, could you just leave so that we can go back at work?" "Of course. We have to go anyway or we'll miss our train." Linali bowed in apology. "We're sorry for the inconvenience. Goodbye." Then she grabbed Allen's arm and they left the place.

First, Allen wanted to ask if they could stay a little longer to watch the performance, but Linali reminded him of the train which would leave soon. The next one wouldn't depart until tomorrow, thus they had to hurry. Allen glanced at the costumed man. So that was how normal humans imagined the akumas. He smiled lightly since he knew better. But… when he thought over it, the man wasn't surprised at all because of the appearance of the exorcists. And he didn't say anything about their anti-akuma-weapons which was a odd sight for normal humans and usually provoked some reactions. However, it was too late to ask. Their train wouldn't wait. The crowd built due to the incident gave way as they passed. The people stared anxiously at Allen's left arm. He sighed. It was always like that. He could save as many humans as he could, but every time they were afraid of him. Perhaps they thought his left arm was a demon's arm, since it was blood red. But wasn't he a member of the Black Order, of the holy church? His well visible symbol of the Vatican didn't seem to matter. Thoughtful, he touched the silver cross on his uniform. Linali watched him worried. The sad look in his eyes hadn't escaped her. But before she could say anything, someone shouted loudly:

"Yo, Allen, Linali!" Soon afterwards, Rabi, another exorcist, appeared behind them, one arm around Allen's shoulder, the other around Linali's. "Man, that was pretty embarrassing for you, wasn't it?" Allen's cheeks reddened slightly and felt his heart beating faster. Rabi was one of his best friends and would surely make fun of him because of that situation. He was such a kind of person who liked to badger his friends. Shuddering, he thought of Rabi's last prank. The results had been a really scared Miranda, a half destroyed library and a very, very mad bookman.

"Che, it's no wonder the silly bean sprout was taken in by such a ridiculous costume. What a pity for the Black Order that stupidity can't be cured." Allen turned his head and faced the person to whom the voice belonged. It was another fellow exorcist, Kanda, which Allen sometimes counted to his friends, mostly as long as Kanda didn't say anything. Allen decided to ignore his offences. "Why are you here, at all?" he asked, changing the subject. "We have finished our mission and are now heading back to the headquarters." Rabi answered. "Hey, then we can travel together!" "Why not? But now let's hurry or the train will depart without us." With these words, the exorcists started to hasten towards the station. On the way, they passed several street performers who seemed to have a hard time to sell their tickets. There were only a few persons who actually watch their dances, singings and performances. The exorcists too weren't interested except for Allen who looked around with large eyes. Once he had been a street performer himself. With his foster parents he had travelled many countries to show his performing skills. The performances around him awakened a lot of memories. Mainly, he observed the dancers. They reminded him of the woman who had joined him and his father somewhere in Germany and who had a huge crush on Mana. It had been a one-sided love, therefore she had left them after some time, but her dances had been quite impressive to him. He could still remember the featherlike elegance of her movements.

As they reached the station, they could see another little crowd in front of it and three performers. One of them, a middle aged man, sat on a bench and played a guitar. The second, a black-haired girl, stood near him and danced while using two fans, a white and a black one. She wore a colourful mask and a long, fluttering dress with wide sleeves. The third was a little boy who sold the tickets. He wore the same fake horns like the man before. Allen approached the crowd to have a better look and stopped. He didn't know why he didn't move on; he just desperately felt like watching the dance. Kanda's eyes filled up with anger as he saw what the white-haired exorcist did. "Hey, we won't wait for you!" Allen couldn't take his eyes off the graceful moving of the girl. Absorbed in her dancing, he didn't hear anything. He stared at her black fan and vaguely felt a pull in his cursed eye.

"Allen, the train is leaving!" Linali pulled at his sleeve to get his attention. He glanced at her and his fellows who had stopped, then he concentrated his interest on the dancer again. "Please, could we wait for a few seconds? Just this song?" "No. You don't know how long it will be. We have to catch the train!" Linali pushed Allen into the direction of the station and began to shove since he didn't start to walk by himself. He cast a glance back over his shoulder, but didn't protest. Kanda and Rabi continued walking, too, but suddenly, Rabi hold them back. "Wait a moment! I know that man!" he said while pointing at the guy on the bench. "So what?" asked Kanda who was slowly getting extremely furious. "That's General White!"

The other exorcists gazed at the man. He really resembled the general, although he didn't wear the uniform of the exorcists. But since he visited the headquarters very rarely, maybe once a year, they couldn't definitely say if it was him or not. General Jimmy White was much alike General Cross. He didn't hated visiting the headquarters, but he was always busy and travelling around. Additionally, he was regarded as a very strict master, so it usually took a long time until his students finished their formation. There were many rumours about him and his methods circulating. Bad rumours.

"But would a general really work as a performer?" Linali asked pensively. "Yet, he looks like him…" "Well, there's a way to find out." said Rabi and lifted his hands up to his mouth. "Hey, General White!" he shouted, waving at him and jumping up and down to call his attention. The man raised his head and smiled at them as he saw their uniforms. He even waved back, then he dedicated himself to his guitar play again. Due to the brief lack of leading melody, the girl had paused for a moment, but she quickly continued dancing. She opened and closed her fans, twisted around and had soon found back to her routine. "So it is the General. Well, we have to stay here anyway, since our train has left already without us, so we can ask him what he's doing here." "And we can watch the dancing!" Allen said cheerfully and continued staring at the black fan. Rabi smiled at him. "Yeah, that's right."

In moments like this, when Allen showed such an innocent and childish behaviour, he almost felt like having a little brother. His heart lightened as he looked at Allen. So much like a little brother… Rabi smiled and folded his arms behind his head. By chance, he threw a glance at Kanda who stood there enwrapped in his usual dismissive aura and looked on the dancer. Out of the blue, Rabi's eye began to sparkle. He moved towards Kanda with an evil grin on his face. "Hey, Yuu-chan!" he said and smiled even wider. "Doesn't that dance remind you of Japan? You like it too, don't you?" Kanda shoot a death glare at him. "Just the use of fans doesn't make a Japanese dance, you idiot. And no, I definitely DON'T like it." Yet Rabi was not the person who would leave it at that. Even less because he knew Kanda's mother had used to dance for him to help improving his sword-fighting skills. She had always said that the philosophy behind dances and the one behind sword-fighting were nearly the same. Kanda himself had told him that years ago after their first successful mission. The little 13-year-old Rabi had organized some bottles of whisky and they had celebrated on the way back in the train. And they had talked almost during the entire journey. Now, he walked over to his favourite victim and laid an arm around him. "Yuu-chan, we are your best friends. You can admit your love for dancing. We know it all! Sword fights are like dances, so you have to like it. I can see it in your eyes!" The raven-haired exorcists pushed him rudely away. "What you see in my eyes is just the promise to kill you one day. And don't compare that stupid attempt of dancing with sword art." he said coldly and laid one hand on his Mugen.

Before the situation could become bloodier, Allen winced and spun around. "Stop it!" he yelled. "There's an akuma coming!" At this very moment, an akuma appeared. It was a weak level one, but ere they could invocate their anti-akuma-weapons; it fired at the little ticket boy. "Watch out!" shouted Allen. He tried to reach the boy to block the attack, but he was too slow. The bullet flew fast towards the boy who just stood there paralysed in fear.

* * *

**author's notes:** Yay, cliffhanger in the very first chapter! I just HAVE to be a sadist. 

Please don't ask me how long it took me to write this. I know it is not so much, but it has been a while since I wrote my last English text. The next chapter will take a while, but I do my best!

Now, I want to thank my iced coffe and my joss sticks for keeping me awake (now it is 1.35am in Germany), my insane brain who already tells me some freaking ideas for the next chapters and, above all, my dictionary (I love you!).

So, I'm going to sleep. Good night, everyone!


	2. Chapter 2 : Crossing roads

I'm sooooo sorry it took so long! The last weeks, I was kind of busy and then there was so much dialogue to write in this chapter. Sometimes, I really suck at writing a dialogue. I always want to rewrite it ...

A huge thanks to the reviewers! You sure know how to motivate.

**TimelessTears:** Thank you so much for the first review I ever got. I hope you like the next chapters too!

**Angelbott:** Thanks. Girl with two fans is a good paraphrase for her. I always called her fangirl ... g

**TisNothing:** Danke für deine lieben Worte. Ich hoffe, dir werden die nächsten Kapitel auch gefallen. Ich gebe mein bestes!

**Ametris:** Thanks for the hint! I immediately tried it and look: The chapter seems to be longer than it actually is. So I'll keep it up. And thank you for your offer. I'll keep it in mind!

**Disclaimer:** D.gray-man and all its belongings aren't mine. If you want an autograph, you have to ask Hoshino-sama.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the second chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter two: Crossing roads

_Ways are supposed to cross one day._

_You will meet new friends and then, your loneliness will only play a part in the past's dark dream._

_But, what will arise from such a meeting? Happiness? Love? Or rather pain and hatred?_

_You have to follow the road if you want to know. Just walk right into these shadows representing your own future and you will see if you're able to light at least one candle of hope. And maybe… maybe even the sun will rise one day._

_The night sure is strong in your life. To believe that you can see the day again …you nearly don't dare it. You have to release yourself from the past if you want to leave the shadows. But will you be able to do so? These rough ties holding you are really tight; they cut into your flesh. Look, you're already bleeding._

_And with every drop of blood the past sucks out of you, you're getting weaker. Listen: You have to free yourself soon! Otherwise you will get lost in your mind._

_You will try it, right? To find something you can hold onto. No matter what happens; it is your single hope._

_Human… I pray for you…_

"There's an akuma coming!" At this very moment, an akuma appeared. It was a weak level one, but ere they could invocate their anti-akuma-weapons; it fired at the little ticket boy. "Watch out!" shouted Allen. He tried to reach the boy to block the attack, but he was too slow. The bullet flew fast towards the boy who just stood there paralysed in fear.

Just as the bullet was about to hit him, a white fan appeared right in front of the boy's face. The bullet slowed down, got stuck in the fan and the boy finally jumped sideways. He stumbled some more steps backwards and bumped against General White who quickly caught the small, trembling body before collapsing. The girl who had saved the boy closed her fan and the bullet decayed into dust. Slowly, she reached to her face and took the mask off.

"So it's you again." she said and gazed with her dark green eyes at the akuma. It stared back without the slightest emotion and aimed wordlessly all its cannons at the young woman. However, sooner than it could shoot again, a ball of dazzling light struck it, leaving a big hole in the akuma's body. It disappeared with a faint, relieved sigh. The people looked around in astonishment to see where the attack had come from and their gazes got caught on General White. He had drawn an old, rusted revolver, his anti-akuma-weapon; one arm still around the boy's shoulder. Now, he let go of the child and lowered his gun, suppressed anger burning in his eyes.

"And why did it have to come again, Sara?" he snapped at the girl. "Because this morning YOU had let it escape!"

She threw an unreadable glance at him. "You've told that already hundreds of times. I know it's my fault."

General White inhaled deeply to calm himself. "Then I hope you'll never do a fault again. Humans had nearly died because of you."

Sara avoided his eyes. Her master expected her to be a perfect exorcist who never made any mistake in his whole life. However, she was not at all perfect. She did slip up and with every mistake, she had to endure long sermons of the General about what could have happened and what she could do to become a better exorcist. Sure, it was helpful, but General White loved to repeat himself over and over again. After some repetitions of the same talk, she usually didn't listen any longer.

"Exorcists cannot get away with blundering!" the General just said without realizing that the people around quickly walked away and threw distrustful glances at the exorcists. He didn't even notice that nobody was listening. Even Timcampy was bored and gnawed on a strand of Allen's hair. Rabi grinned and whispered to his fellows: "Hey, that guy is weirder than the rumours say!"

Linali turned to the little boy who confusedly looked up to the General. He still had tears in his fearful eyes. She kneeled down and patted his head while smiling as warmly as she could. "It's over. You are safe now."

The boy looked nervously around. "Really?" he asked in a low voice. Linali nodded.

"Well, we should return to the theatre." General White said. He had finally finished his preaching. "It is much more comfortable to talk while having a cup of tea." Rabi bent down to Allen.

"Does that mean it's going to continue? " he spoke softly. "The rumours really understate. But actually, how odd is this guy?" He grinned. That looked just like a job for the hot and famous bookman-in-training!

---------------------------------

The theatre was big. Compared to the size of the town, it was an exaggeratedly large building with long rows of black seats and a wide stage. The curtain, red and heavy, was raised and some actors rehearsed a scene from the musical. They wore beautiful, shot coloured costumes. The stage design was stunning. A big, luxurious castle was painted on the background which was secured by ropes and props. Some additional settings - a tower, dark clouds and a moon - were also hold by ropes. Suddenly, a woman began to sing. Her voice ascended into the air and floated right into the hearts of the listeners. She spread her arms and her voice swelled getting louder and more emotional. The other actors began to dance around her and joined in her singing. They sang about the everlasting bonds of love, about the beauty and the bliss of a pure love and a heart filled with longing for another one.

"So, why are you helping the promoters?" Rabi asked. They sat at a table behind the stage. All-over the place requisites were scattered. People bustled around, but no one paid attention to the exorcists.

"Well, it is kind of a coincidence." General White said while taking a sip of tea. "They needed some help. So I decided to stay a little longer. After all, I am known as White, the generous general."

"Don't you think it's rather General White Lie?" Sara stood in the door that leaded to the dressing rooms of the actors. She had changed her clothes and wore now a simple pair of trousers and a blouse, clothes that would be far more convenient for a battle than the dress before. She sat down next to the General who cleared his throat and rested his hand on her arm.

"Ok, it's time to introduce you my current student. This is Sara, a compatible." One after another, the General introduced them to each other.

"What did you meant by white lie?" Allen asked her after the General finished.

She smiled. "It's because we're not helping out. We're working off our debts. His debts."

_Flashback_

It was a wonderful morning in the picturesque little town. General White and his student had just set off to take their train as they came past some performers. A beautiful woman sold tickets for the long-awaited musical 'The Beauty and the Beast'. Catching sight of her, the General turned around, mumbled something like "We should have five minutes to spare" and walked over to the lady.

"Would you like to buy a ticket?" the woman asked cheerfully, but General White shook his head. He grabbed her hands and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I just had to stop and admire your outstanding beauty. As if your gorgeous eyes were sparkling stars, I feel like being blinded … Now I know for sure there have to be a loving god."

Sara rolled her eyes. The General sure didn't leave a chance behind.

The lady blushed and pulled her hands out of his grip. "I … I'm married!" she finally managed to say.

He sighed. "Your husband … is he, by any chance, tall, brawny and aggressive?"

"N-no…"

"So, what's the problem?"

"Master White!" Sara shouted. "We don't have enough time for your amorous adventures!"

The General sighed again. "We can take the next train. It's not like that we have to arrive at the headquarters as soon as possible."

Sara stared insistently at her master, but didn't achieve anything. "Ok, if you think so…" With these words, she turned over -

And looked right into the eyes of an akuma. It directed a cannon at her forehead and shot. Sara could evade the attack just in time, feeling the harsh draught of the bullet. The projectile hit the building in the background and broke a big hole into the wall. General White, alarmed by the noise, drew his gun, spun around and knocked over the lady to get her out of the fireline. His first attack missed the akuma, but the next at least touched it. It screeched and jumped at some spectators. Quickly, Sara took her fan out of a pocket and invocated it. With a hasty movement, she created a strong gust and threw it at the akuma. It tried to dodge the wind, but because of the reach of the sickle-like gusts, it carried away lots of slight wounds. The enemy was only a level-one, however, it was very fast. Within a second, the akuma flew higher, turned around and attacked the people who were dashing away from the scene.

"Sara, destroy it!"

The bullets were flying rapidly, so the people wouldn't get off lightly. Sara opened her fan and again, a strong wind arose in front of the fleeing folk. The shots got slower and soon they fell to earth. Yet, the akuma flew faster and faster and after a few moments, they lost sight of it. It had escaped.

"Why didn't you follow my order?" the General shouted angrily at her.

Sara pointed into the direction the people had run to. "Should I watch them die?" she yelled back.

A groaning attracted finally their attention. The woman the General had knocked down before were still lying at the ground.

_End of flashback_

"Now she has a twisted ankle and we had to stay." With these words, Sara finished the story and threw an angry look at her master.

"You were lucky that the akuma returned. Goodness knows what it could have done while you were occupied." Linali said. "It sure could sneak up well …"

Kanda snorted. "It wouldn't have taken us by surprise if bean sprout had paid more attention."

"But I'm not responsible for the appearance of the akuma!" Allen exclaimed.

"For what do you have your eye if you don't use it?" Kanda glared coldly at the young exorcist. "You're so useless."

"I am not."

"You are."

"I am not!"

"You are."

"I am not!" Allen jumped up and his chair toppled down.

"You definitely are." Kanda said colder than ever. He couldn't stand it when someone contradicted him so persistently. It always made him want to draw his katana and behead the opponent.

"Ok, gentlemen!" the General interfered. "Please calm down. If you destroy something, you have to work. I won't pay your debts. But let's come back to your eye." He turned to Allen. "Am I right that you are Allen Walker, the student of my bosom friend Marian Cross?" Allen nodded. "Then, it is true that your eye can sense the akuma! What a helpful ability!"

Allen smiled triumphantly at Kanda, but said guy just stared back in rage. After a few moments, the white-haired boy gave up and looked at General White. "My father cursed me after I turned him into an akuma. It feels like having a part of him in my left eye." He gently touched it. "But I don't know why I didn't noticed the akuma earlier. Usually my eye forewarn me, even when I'm sleeping."

"Well, I guess that's my fault." Sara said. "That dance back then was supposed to attract the akuma. Maybe it influenced your eye too …"

"That's Sara's special ability. She can attract and distract akumas. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with every one." the General explained. "It could be quite useful if Sara was stronger. But I'm confident that she can handle the high-levelled akumas one day. Though, it will be a long way."

"And your anti-akuma-weapon is a fan?" Allen asked curiously. Sara nodded and opened her fan. It was black and had a floral design on it with blossoms and twines, all in black.

"I've some fans, because it would be weird to dance with only one. This fan is a reminiscence of my mother. She gave it to me a long time ago. That's nearly everything I can remember …"

The General leaned forward. "Sara has lost her memory. Though, she can remember some small things like her name, but she doesn't know her family, her last name or where she comes from. She can't recall anything what happened before she met me."

A long and piercing shriek interrupted their conversation. They looked up, alarmed. Allen checked the surroundings, but couldn't spot any akumas. Then, the woman who sang before dashed towards the exorcists, holding something in her hand - Timcampy. She held its tail between two fingers and showed it to the General.

"Does this mite belong to you?" she asked enraged. General White shook his head and pointed at Allen.

"Tim! Where have you been?" As the golem heard the voice of its master, it tried to fly to him but the woman was still holding it.

"This … whatever it is … It has bitten the main actor!" she yelled and threw poor Timcampy at Allen. He could manage to catch it. Immediately, Timcampy crawled into his sleeve to hide from the woman. Then, they heard heavy steps approaching and the main actor showed up. He held a cloth at his nose.

"Where is this rat?" he wanted to know, but the only answer he got was Rabi's laughter. The red-haired boy almost fell out of his chair as he caught sight of the actor's costume. It was the main actor, so he played the part of the beast. Hence, he was masqueraded as an akuma. It resembled the costume they had seen earlier, yet it looked much more laughable. It was normal-sized, but there were two wings of cardboard on his back, painted in black and red. That, the horns and the smoke made Rabi laugh madly. He pointed at the actor and gasped for breath.

"Oh my god! That's too much to take!" he screamed and finally fell out of the chair. He tried to grip something and got hold of a rope hanging on the wall. With a loud noise, he snatched it off and whatever the rope had upheld came off. Unfortunately, it was a part of the stage design. Due to the sudden missing of one rope, the construction began to sway. One after another, the remaining ropes loosened and the entire setting tumbled down. The actors stood silently in disbelief. Everyone was staring at Rabi.

He grinned embarrassed and scratched his head. "Oh!"

**author's notes:** Like I said - tons of dialogue! But don't worry, I already made a note for the next chapter: More action, LESS DIALOGUE!


End file.
